This was a tragic event—possibly one that couldn't have been prevented and one that had little to do with Kerry Martin's age. However, the fact that the US maternal death rate has been rising since 1982 should prompt us to educate ourselves—especially since the CDC itself admits to a rate of underreporting and misclassification of maternal deaths that is shocking (1/2 to 2/3 of the actual deaths may not be reported). The reasons are many, but they stem from Congress never having mandated and funded the establishment of a system for accurate reporting. Death certificate data alone is notoriously poor, and it's worse here than in most countries of comparable wealth since our US Standard Death Certificate is not used in every state. Some states still neglect to ask whether a deceased woman had been pregnant in the year prior to her death. There is no penalty for false reporting (which does happen sometimes).
I've been collecting women's names for 12 years (US maternal deaths since 1982)for The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project. The number of unpreventible deaths is 2-3 per 100,000 births. The 2006 rate of 13.3/100,000 is very high, considering that in 1982, our rate was 7.5/100,000. Yes, mothers tend to be older now than in the early 80s, but let's not forget what has happened to our c-section rate (it's still major abdominal surgery), our induction rate (sky-high now compared with 9% or so in the 80s), the number of multiple births by assisted reproductive technologies, and poor nutrition.
It will be impossible to reduce our too-high maternal death rate unless we first establish a system for accurate and complete counting. The FAA is not allowed to investigate only 1/3 of plane crashes. Then comes review and analysis within a system that is impartial and not connected to the institutions where deaths take place. The UK's system of Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths www.cemach.org.uk should be our model.
One thing we should do right away is to force insurance companies to pay for home visits to new mothers after hospital discharge. I've heard of several new mothers just released from hospital who died at home (sometimes their babies, too) because they didn't get even one home visit. How is a post-c-section single mom supposed to know when she's in trouble? I don't know of any other country that neglects new mothers after they give birth to the extent we do here. Google Virginia Njoroge and Tameka McFarquhar and Galit Schiller, and you'll know what I mean.
Comment Reply
This was a tragic event—possibly one that couldn't have been prevented and one that had little to do with Kerry Martin's age. However, the fact that the US maternal death rate has been rising since 1982 should prompt us to educate ourselves—especially since the CDC itself admits to a rate of underreporting and misclassification of maternal deaths that is shocking (1/2 to 2/3 of the actual deaths may not be reported). The reasons are many, but they stem from Congress never having mandated and funded the establishment of a system for accurate reporting. Death certificate data alone is notoriously poor, and it's worse here than in most countries of comparable wealth since our US Standard Death Certificate is not used in every state. Some states still neglect to ask whether a deceased woman had been pregnant in the year prior to her death. There is no penalty for false reporting (which does happen sometimes).
I've been collecting women's names for 12 years (US maternal deaths since 1982)for The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project. The number of unpreventible deaths is 2-3 per 100,000 births. The 2006 rate of 13.3/100,000 is very high, considering that in 1982, our rate was 7.5/100,000. Yes, mothers tend to be older now than in the early 80s, but let's not forget what has happened to our c-section rate (it's still major abdominal surgery), our induction rate (sky-high now compared with 9% or so in the 80s), the number of multiple births by assisted reproductive technologies, and poor nutrition.
It will be impossible to reduce our too-high maternal death rate unless we first establish a system for accurate and complete counting. The FAA is not allowed to investigate only 1/3 of plane crashes. Then comes review and analysis within a system that is impartial and not connected to the institutions where deaths take place. The UK's system of Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths www.cemach.org.uk should be our model.
One thing we should do right away is to force insurance companies to pay for home visits to new mothers after hospital discharge. I've heard of several new mothers just released from hospital who died at home (sometimes their babies, too) because they didn't get even one home visit. How is a post-c-section single mom supposed to know when she's in trouble? I don't know of any other country that neglects new mothers after they give birth to the extent we do here. Google Virginia Njoroge and Tameka McFarquhar and Galit Schiller, and you'll know what I mean.
May 29, 2009 - 3:02pmThis Comment
Reply